Most Perfect …

The ‘most perfect likenesses’ were assured by John Miers, a master of his craft, who preferred the simplicity of a black profile without embellishment. Painted in a pigment made from pine-soot and small-beer, his black profiles contrast well against the white plaster base with costume details, such as this gentleman’s frilled cravat, achieved by thinning the pigment. The same technique has been used to add texture to the frizzed ends of his bound pigtail.

The silhouette is set behind old flat glass in the original brass-faced frame and is backed with the artist’s complete trade label no. 6 in use around 1786. There is light dust under the glass and a couple of specks of plaster towards the bottom edge; the rippling effect bottom right is caused by the lovely old glass.

Miers first painted silhouettes in 1781 whilst working alongside his father in a paint preparation business in Leeds. Early success persuaded Miers to make profile painting his full-time career whereupon he travelled to numerous towns and cities to extend his clientele. In 1791 Miers moved to London where he set up what was to become a successful and long-running profile studio on the Strand.